The Infrastructure Investor Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Taaleri Energia and Capalo AI Battery storage is becoming a core pillar of European energy infrastructure. Capacity is expected to double by 2030 and grow eightfold by 2040. And while only 2 percent of solar today is co-located with storage, that should rise to 50 percent by the mid-2030s. Unlike wind and solar, which earn less as markets grow more volatile, batteries earn more, making them a natural hedge within renewable-heavy portfolios and a stabiliser of fund-level returns. With multiple routes to revenue, success demands granular local market knowledge, precise renewables forecasting, and adaptive trading algorithms with tight feedback loops. That complexity only increases when batteries are co-located with wind and solar assets. In this episode, Taaleri Energia investment director, battery storage, Ville Rimali and Capalo AI CEO Henri Taskinen unpack the investment case and operational demands of the asset class, where to find the strongest opportunities, and explain why it is so rapidly overtaking pumped hydro.

Want to access all four episodes now? Register for free at this link . Critical Load: Inside the Data Centre Boom lifts the lid on one of the hottest and most contested sectors in private markets. Combining insight from major investors, operators, legal and consulting experts and PEI Group’s own research team, we go inside (literally) to explore the key themes driving growth in the sector. In this final episode of the four-part podcast miniseries, we dig into the hard numbers on investment performance and examine the sector’s future trajectory, with trends to watch including the AI shift, bridging power solutions and speculative but real early moves into the “final frontier”.

Want to access all four episodes now? Register for free at this link . Critical Load: Inside the Data Centre Boom lifts the lid on one of the hottest and most contested sectors in private markets. Combining insight from major investors, operators, legal and consulting experts and PEI Group’s own research team, we go inside (literally) to explore the key themes driving growth in the sector. In this third episode of the four-part podcast miniseries, we confront the growing public and media narrative that data centres are driving up household electricity bills and we investigate how – and whether – the record is being set straight. We also look at how the industry is addressing environmental concerns on multiple fronts. A proactive approach to engagement and education is required if operators want to maintain their social licence to operate.

Want to access all four episodes now? Register for free at this link . Critical Load: Inside the Data Centre Boom lifts the lid on one of the hottest and most contested sectors in private markets. Combining insight from major investors, operators, legal and consulting experts and PEI Group’s own research team, we go inside (literally) to explore the key themes driving growth in the sector. In this second episode of the four-part podcast miniseries, we look at the importance of location as well as power and the search for capacity. While power may be the key factor in “land, power and people”, the type of power also matters; reliability is paramount. That quest for power has led to a rise of secondary locations and has brought political consequences.

Want to access all four episodes now? Register for free at this link . Critical Load: Inside the Data Centre Boom lifts the lid on one of the hottest and most contested sectors in private markets. Combining insight from major investors, operators, legal and consulting experts and PEI Group’s own research team, we go inside (literally) to explore the key themes driving growth in the sector. In this first episode of the four-part podcast miniseries, we go behind the scenes of Infrastructure Investor Network’s Global Summit, set the stage with an explanation of what these facilities are, establish the scale of the data centre boom, and get to grips with some staggering investment statistics.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Jan Vesely, a partner at EQT and one of the leaders of its new AI infrastructure strategy. EQT is one of the many blue-chip infrastructure managers to launch a dedicated AI infrastructure strategy, but it’s done something different: it launched an open-ended strategy anchored by EdgeConneX, its global data centre platform, which it’s owned for six years, and formed over $9 billion of capital for in the space of three months. In our discussion, Vesely explains why EQT doubled down on EdgeConneX as the foundation of its AI strategy; why the Swedish manager is a big believer in grid flexibility, and not just for data centres; its willingness to go fully behind the meter for the long term; how to manage counterparty risk, particularly for AI-native customers; and much more.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Andrea Echberg, global head of Pantheon’s infrastructure team. Echberg is a veteran of the infrastructure secondaries market, and the discussion traces the evolution of secondaries from a niche strategy to a core part of institutional portfolios. It also explores the impact of higher interest rates and liquidity constraints on deal activity on the sector, why investor appetite for infrastructure secondaries continues to grow, and how pricing, fundraising and competition are shaping the market. The discussion also touches on what Echberg calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” of continuation vehicles; the opportunities created by long-term themes like digital infrastructure and the energy transition; non-GP sources of assets; and what the next phase of growth could look like as the market becomes increasingly institutionalised.

In this episode, Bruno Alves, Infrastructure Investor’s editor-in-chief, sits down with Americas editor Zak Bentley. They start with the latest Infrastructure Investor 100 ranking of the world’s largest managers, and analyse what it tells us about the evolving shape of the global infrastructure market. With a total of $1.2 trillion raised over the last five years, the numbers point to a strong recovery – but also highlight just how concentrated the industry has become, with a handful of large-cap managers commanding the lion’s share of capital. They also unpack our latest quarterly data on fund performance , highlighting the dispersion between top- and bottom-quartile funds that challenges infrastructure’s reputation as a consistently defensive asset class. Finally, they touch on how strategies are evolving to reflect the digital capex supercycle we find ourselves in.

In this special episode based on a keynote interview on 25 March at our Global Summit in Berlin – editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Marc Ganzi, chief executive of DigitalBridge . The discussion touched on concerns about AI data‑centre obsolescence, with Ganzi comparing GPU refresh cycles to radio upgrades on cell towers. He also talked through the huge arbitrage opportunity for operators that control their own power, stressed the importance of tight contract discipline, and highlighted the hidden risks many new entrants tend to overlook. Finally, Ganzi looked ahead to the next wave of demand, lifting the curtain on robotics and the rise of AI factories, outlining they will require another 500GW of compute over the next 10-15 years.

In this special episode – based on a keynote interview done on 24 March at our Global Summit in Berlin – editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Sean Klimczak, Blackstone ’s global head of infrastructure. As the world’s largest investor in data centres , a significant part of the discussion centred on how Blackstone is investing in the sector. Highlights included Klimczak’s call on the industry to move beyond a “do no harm” standard and add net benefits to the communities where data centres are built. He also spoke about how the data centre market will internationalise in 2026-27, with a particular focus on Asia-Pacific as a development hotspot. Other talking points included Blackstone's role as a major investor in US utilities at a time of surging power demand; the risks of what Klimczack termed the “private equity-ification” of infrastructure, as the asset class’s boundaries expand; and why Europe is “for sale” and seen by Blackstone as a tremendous opportunity.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Sadek Wahba, founder, chairman and managing partner of I Squared Capital . Sadek returns to the podcast to tackle a broad range of subjects, including I Squared’s cautious approach to investing in the AI infrastructure boom, why he believes the markets are underestimating the risks and impacts of the Iran war, the role of energy security, resilience in infrastructure investing, the growing role of private wealth in infrastructure, and much more.

Infrastructure Investor’s Global Summit, our flagship gathering in Berlin, attracted around 3,500 members this March for a week of networking and agenda-setting discussions, where the digital revolution, energy transition and a wealth of other topics were analysed, parsed and dissected by some of the most significant players in the industry. In this episode, PEI Group's head of special projects, real assets, James Linacre picks out key insights with senior members of Infrastructure Investor’s editorial team, including editor-in-chief Bruno Alves, deputy editor Kalliope Gourntis, Infrastructure Investor Deals editor Nathalie Tidman and PEI Group APAC editor Daniel Kemp.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Niall Mills, global head of Igneo Infrastructure Partners . Igneo has been investing in the mid-market since 1994 and is one of the first managers to feature on the podcast with a full fund realisation behind them. We spend a good part of our discussion dissecting the lessons learned from exiting the 2009-vintage European Diversified Infrastructure Fund I , including why there’s value in a good auction process and the reasons behind Igneo’s decision to do quarterly valuations for their LPs. The discussion also touches on the mid-market, including how managers in the space can capitalise on the booming digital infrastructure sector, and Igneo’s steadfast adherence to core/core-plus at a time when many managers are climbing up the risk curve.

This episode is sponsored by Nuveen Infrastructure and Quinbrook The energy transition is one of the most prominent mega-trends driving investment in infrastructure today. Even as the current US administration is pushing back on the country’s net-zero commitments and scaling back federal incentives, other regions continue to support the decarbonisation agenda, attracting some of the largest players in private infrastructure. In 2025, China alone added more than 430GW of new wind and solar capacity, not far off the 585GW global additions posted in 2024, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). And more than half of all new vehicle sales in China last year were electric, showcasing the country’s burgeoning green credentials. In this episode of The Infrastructure Investor Podcast, Joost Bergsma, global head of clean energy at Nuveen Infrastructure, and David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner at Quinbrook, discuss the many factors driving appetite for the energy transition despite the pockets of geopolitical hostility. While policy reversal might make the headlines, both still see plenty of exciting opportunities to fund the net-zero transition.

This episode is sponsored by Ridgewood Infrastructure and I Square Capital At the start of 2026, infrastructure investors in the United States benefit from numerous tailwinds. Electricity demand is rising at the fastest rate in decades, industrial reshoring is gathering momentum, and the artificial intelligence revolution is continuing to accelerate. While many of the fundamentals are positive, infrastructure managers must navigate a complex environment in the US. Abrupt policy changes, alongside macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, mean the path to success is far from straightforward. In this episode of The Infrastructure Investor Podcast, Ross Posner, managing partner at Ridgewood Infrastructure, and Gautam Bhandari, managing partner at I Squared Capital, discuss how mid-market managers can be best placed to deliver higher returns and secure favourable exits. Although their strategies differ, they both see plentiful opportunities as the US infrastructure market continues to grow and mature in the years ahead.

This episode is sponsored by Brookfield The infrastructure asset class is entering a defining moment. As energy transition pressures, geopolitics and capital intensity reshape the market, assets such as power networks and digital infrastructure are becoming central to economic competitiveness, rather than simply defensive investments. Artificial intelligence is accelerating this shift. Beyond the hype, AI’s growth depends on vast amounts of physical infrastructure – from power generation and transmission to advanced data centres and computers. Meeting that demand is pulling infrastructure managers into a global race alongside hyperscalers and governments, creating one of the decade’s most significant investment opportunities. This podcast is part of PEI Group's Private Markets 2030 programme exploring how private markets are evolving through the second half of the decade. In this programme, we unpack how managers can adapt, attract capital and deliver performance in an increasingly complex market. Joining us are two guests from Brookfield: Stewart Upson, co-president of Brookfield’s infrastructure group, and Udhay Mathialagan, a managing partner in the infrastructure group and CEO of Brookfield’s global data centre practice. They discuss the opportunities and risks for managers delivering the supporting infrastructure around AI and look at how investors are partnering with governments, hyperscalers and AI developers. Read more insights on the infrastructure AI journey from Brookfield’s Stewart Upson here.

Editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Americas editor Zak Bentley to provide a holistic view across the infrastructure fundraising market, taking in closed-end and open-end fundraising. According to Infrastructure Investor data, $289 billion was raised for closed-end structures in 2025, making it the largest-ever year for the asset class. Data from LP consultancy bfinance similarly suggests that 2025 is set to be the best fundraising year for open-end funds since 2022. Our discussion focuses on the similarities between closed and open-end fundraising – both highly concentrated markets; dissects the impact on strategies of a lasting shift to a two-year-plus fundraising timeline; explores why elevated redemptions are not yet a concern for open-end vehicles; and much more.

In this year's last episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Doug Kimmelman, founder and executive chairman of Energy Capital Partners . Today's discussion focuses on the US electricity market, which is experiencing a "shining moment" driven by unprecedented demand growth after 30 years of stagnation. Key drivers include the massive power needs of artificial intelligence and data centres, along with LNG exports, the onshoring of manufacturing, and the expansion of electric vehicles and crypto mining. This surging demand - which could require as much as 400GW of new capacity, including replacements for retiring coal and nuclear plants - is rapidly transforming the sector. With that in mind, we discuss how the market is prioritising slowing the retirement of existing generation, brownfield expansions, and fast-to-deploy solar and storage, while the reliance on natural gas increases despite turbine bottlenecks. We also explore how the presence of hyperscalers with strong balance sheets is reshaping the contracting environment, leading to longer-tenure, highly financeable power purchase agreements.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Waldemar Szlezak, KKR ’s global head of digital infrastructure. In a wide-ranging discussion, they address whether there's a bubble forming around AI infrastructure and why parts of the market are overheating during one of the fastest capex cycles in tech history. They then explore the lifespan of data centre infrastructure compared to the rapid obsolescence of the GPUs that power it, touch on the industry's “coordination tax”, examine KKR's molecule to the rack strategy, and much more. We're going to be talking about digital infrastructure a lot at the Infrastructure Investor Global Summit , taking place in Berlin from the 24th to the 27th of March 2026. We have an early bird deadline offer expiring on the 12th of December, which you should definitely consider. So don't miss your chance to lock in discounted registration and join over 3,000 infrastructure decision makers – including 1,000 LPs from 50 plus countries – at the iconic STATION Berlin.

In this episode, Daniel Kemp, APAC editor, private markets, for PEI Group and APAC real assets reporter Tom Taylor reflect on our recent Infrastructure Investor Network Australia Forum, in Melbourne, and other Asia-Pacific events held this year. The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including how geopolitics is shaping investment decisions across the region; AI and digital infrastructure’s thematic dominance, with massive demand for data centres driving investment not only in developing markets but also in Southeast Asia; the headwinds Australia is facing, with foreign investor frustration over new tax rules, and renewables stagnation; the maturation of Japan’s investor base, with LPs starting to make more direct fund commitments; the importance of relationship-driven capital, and much more.